Romanian PSD leader: Draft budget for 2017 needs to be voted by January 15

Liviu Dragnea, the president of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), said yesterday that Romania’s draft budget for 2017 needs to be approved by the Parliament by January 15. To meet this deadline, the new Government needs to be installed next week. “If the President accepts our proposal and appoints a Prime Minister quickly, we can vote the Government next week so that by January 12-15 the latest the budget is approved in the Parliament,” Dragnea said. PSD won the recent parliamentary elections with over 46% of the votes and has signed a governing protocol with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE). The two parties hold the majority of seats in the Parliament and will make a Prime Minister proposal to President Klaus Iohannis today. According to information from local media, Florin Georgescu, first deputy governor of Romania’s National Bank (BNR), was one of the people considered for this position. However, Dragnea said he would name a PSD member for the job. Georgescu is not a party member. editor@romania-insider.com